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Pop-Up Beer Garden returns to Opalka Gallery

Pop-Up Beer Garden returns to Opalka Gallery

Home of the Week and all the music listings

Phat Chiem
September 03, 2024

Happy Tuesday, Capital District! Today, we’re taking you to Opalka Gallery for a look at its art-meets-music Pop-up Beer Garden Series. Also, check out our Home of the Week and get your music listings for the whole week.

Btw, we’re working on a super fun update to the newsletter coming next week. Hint: It’s got something to do with this guy 🦫

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

Today in The 518

Opalka Gallery hosts a block party with bands & breweries 🍻
First Friday Albany kicks off a packed weekend 🥳
The beloved Stuyvesant Falls Bridge faces demolition 😥
A handsome brick American Foursquare in Troy is our Home of the Week 🏡
All the music shows you need to know 🎸

📣 TALK OF THE TOWN

The Pop-Up Beer Garden Series returns to Opalka Gallery at Russell Sage College 📷️ Courtesy of Opalka Gallery

Opalka Gallery brings breweries and bands together for its Pop-up Beer Garden Series

Situated on a public-facing corner of Russell Sage College’s Albany campus, Opalka Gallery wants you to know that it’s a lot more than just an academic art gallery.

Opalka has been an anchor institution in the upstate New York contemporary art scene for more than two decades. But former director Judie Gilmore wanted to make it more than “Albany’s best kept secret” and sought to invite locals in with dynamic programming that stretched the boundaries of what a gallery on a college campus can do. She launched the Popup Beer Garden Series six years ago as a kind of art-driven neighborhood block party.

“The event has become really popular,” current Opalka director Amy Griffin tells The 518. “The neighborhood loves it. We bring in food trucks, bands, breweries. We do free print screening and have lawn games. It's a great family atmosphere. People come hang out with their kids and have a great time.”

We also think it’s an excellent choice for date night. Impress your sweetie with a triple threat of yummy bites, craft brews and rockin’ bands.

While you’re there, open your eyes and your heart with Painting at Night, Opalka’s current exhibition of artworks by caregivers. A collaboration between Opalka, Troy’s Collar Works and Artist/Mother Podcast, this is the 4th iteration of this particular show.

Get to Opalka’s beer garden on consecutive Friday nights this month from 6-9pm. It starts this Friday as the featured event for First Friday Albany, the monthly series taking place in various venues across the city.

New this year is a makers market on Sept. 20 with a dozen vendors selling high-quality handmade goods.

Here’s the full schedule:

Sept. 6: Painting at Night exhibition / First Friday Albany

Bands: Super 400 | Caity Gallagher. Beer: Druthers Brewing | Frog Alley Brewing. Food: Dotty Lou’s BBQ | Grammy’s Tamales

Sept. 13: Painting at Night exhibition reception | An official ACE! (Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy) event

Bands: Home Body | Adam Tinkle and His Long Awaited Wrinkle. Beer: Rare Form Brewing | Nine Pin Cidery. Food: La Capital Tacos | Mi Casa

Sept. 20: Makers Market with jewelry, ceramics, clothing & home goods

Bands: The Parlor | Amanda Case. Beer: Fort Orange Brewing | Mean Max Brewing. Food: Slidin’ Dirty | Skinny Pancake

Reader poll results: Your heart belongs to hard ice cream

Last week, we wrote about the effort to save a Saratoga institution—Grasso’s Italian Ice Truck—and polled our readers on their favorite cold dessert. 62% of y’all picked hard ice cream. In fact, Italian ice came in dead last, behind soft serve. Go figure. Guess you can’t beat just good ol’ ice cream 🍨

🌞 WEATHER WATCH

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” —Thomas Merton

Are we in for a “second summer”? The folks at Accuweather are warning about unusually warm and dry conditions for early September across the state.

☀️ Tuesday 75°/50° 💧0%

☀️ Wednesday 80°/51° 💧1%

☀️ Thursday 81°/53° 💧1%

🌤️ Friday 82°/61° 💧14%

🌦️ Saturday 76°/61° 💧73%

🌤️ Sunday 69°/57° 💧30%

Love The 518? Hire us to boost your business!

Do you have a small business that needs more attention? Work with StoryCraft to level up your website and/or social media presence and connect with more of the right customers. Right now, StoryCraft is offering free 30-minute coaching calls for Capital Region businesses. We’ll do a quick audit of your current marketing and see how the right campaign can help you grow.

🗞️ CAPITAL DISTRICT DIGEST

🏊️ Don’t swim at Troy’s Poestenkill Gorge Park, y’all! People are STILL swimming in these dangerous waters after a 26-year-old Troy man drowned Sunday in the prohibited area of the park. He’s at least the 5th person to die there in the last decade 😬 [News10]

🌉 The beloved Stuyvesant Falls Bridge on County Route 25A spanning Kinderhook Creek is slated for demolition. The historic, 125-year-old steel-truss structure is deteriorating and the DOT wants to replace it, but residents are pushing back on these plans. The picturesque bridge was featured in a New York Times spread about road-tripping in the Hudson Valley. [Times Union]

👮‍♀️ Restaurant owners on Madison Avenue in Albany’s South End neighborhood are fed up with the high concentration of crime, loitering and drug activity. The owners of Hattie’s Restaurant, Cafe Capriccio and Hill Street Cafe have all complained to the mayor—and are threatening to leave the area unless the city takes immediate action. This recent Reddit post talking about the situation lit up with 300+ comments… The 518 HQ happens to be located near this notorious section of Madison Avenue. We need the city and police to step up in a big way to help these businesses thrive! [Times Union]

🎟️ WHAT’S HAPPENING

Note: Our full weekend roundup now publishes on Thursdays.

🎥 Tomorrow evening, the Capitol Park After Dark Movie Series features the 1934 classic “The Thin Man.” Bring your lawn chairs and picnic blankets.

🧑‍🌾 Also on Wednesday, the Empire State Plaza Farmer’s Market goes from 10 am to 2 pm.

🎼 On Thursday, The Music Studio in Albany offers a free mini music class for kids ages 3-7.

🇬🇷 Get your Greek on at the 48th annual Greek Festival, organized by St. George Greek Orthodox Church at the Hellenic Center in Schenectady. Fri-Sun.

🇮🇹 Also happening on Saturday is the 19th annual Schenectady Little Italy StreetFest, from noon to 9 pm on North Jay Street.

🖼️ Schenectady seems like the place to be this weekend. The 73rd annual Stockade Villagers' Outdoor Art Show takes place on Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, at Ferry and Front streets.

🏮 Starting Thursday, walk through hundreds of ginormous artisan-made Chinese lanterns at the Autumn Glow Festival, hosted by Mabee Farms. Tickets are $26.99.

🇰🇷 Did all the cultures decide this was THE weekend to hold their festivals? Taste of Korea descends on Watervliet on Sunday, from noon to 5 pm. On Saturday and Sunday, the Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church in Troy puts on the Armenian Festival.

First Friday Albany is this week!

Besides the Popup Beer Garden at Opalka Gallery, there’s so much more coming up this Friday! For starters, The Albany Institute of Art and History is open late with free gallery admission. Don’t miss the Albany Mummies, then take a quick stroll for 2-for-1 margaritas at El Loco Mexican Cafe. Meet and greet the artists at exhibitions at City Hall, Common Roots Albany Outpost, Washington Avenue Armory and the Unitarian Universalist Society. There’s more: Take a twilight tour of the NYS Capitol building or experience the oldest building in town at Van Ostrande-Radliff House.

The 518 is the proud media sponsor for First Friday Albany. Click below for the full schedule of events!

7 Alder Avenue, Troy, NY 12180

🏡 HOME OF THE WEEK

This light-filled American Foursquare is nestled on a lovely street in the restive east side of Troy. Newly refinished oak hardwood floors throughout give a warm, inviting feel. Host cozy family gatherings in the spacious living room complete with wood-burning fireplace and adjacent dining room. Need a little vitamin D, WFH office or workshop space? The heated sunroom, 4th bd/office on the first floor, and outdoor garage have you covered. With its bright, solid character and prime location, this handsome brick home is move-in ready.

The deets: 3 bd, 2 ba, 2180 sf. Asking: $319,900. Days on market: 4. See the full listing here.